The present invention relates generally to a support system, more particularly, to a structurally independent load bearing support system for use in vehicles and supporting various assortments of accessories.
Although a large variety of box truck designs exist, they all include the common features of large interior space defined by the sidewalls, front and back walls, a roof, and a floor. The steel truck mainframe supports the flooring, which can include a wooden or metal platform secured to the main frame. The floor is normally bowed from front to rear in order to compensate for and provide some flexibility for heavy loads carried within the cargo area. The sidewalls and roof usually comprise material with little load bearing capability, such as fiberglass, plywood, thin sheet metal, fiberglass reinforced plywood, etc. The primary cargo load bearing structure for trucks of this type include the flooring and main frame. Typically, metal steel or aluminum bars mount at the box corners and along the edges of the box for the purpose of transferring carrying forces outward and downward to the main frame. Also, the sidewalls have been corrugated with vertically extending channels, or a portion of the sidewall may be fitted with a series of longitudinally spaced vertically extending channel members riveted to the inside or outside of the side walls, in an attempt to strengthen the sidewalls. However, these measures are generally ineffective in strengthening the sidewalls for carrying loads.
The box trucks have great utility, particularly for delivery companies that pickup, haul, and deliver a number and variety of packages of varying sizes, shapes, and weight. Currently, the shelving system is individually built and customized for a particular box truck. There is currently no standardized shelving system that can be easily and quickly assembled to fit these box trucks wherein various features and dimensions of the cargo area is non-uniform, e.g., due to bowed floors, wheeled wells, windows, doors, refrigeration units, fuel port covers, and other barriers etc. Additionally, the present shelving system is bolted or riveted to sidewalls of the box trucks which are designed to carry minimal load. This has an added disadvantage of potentially leaving unsightly rivets and/or damaging the outer surface of the sidewalls, including any logo thereon. Typically, an elongated piano hinge assembly having one stationary horizontal bar part is bolted or riveted to the inside surface of the sidewalls. Metal shelving connects to the other, or rotating part, of the hinge assembly. The shelving rotates between a storage position and an utility position. However, such a shelving system requires sidewalls, which are designed to carry a minimal load, to support the weight of the shelving system and the packages thereon. It is only a matter of time before the sidewalls of the box truck are damaged from static and dynamic loads of the shelving system as well as the vibrations imparted to the connection points where the hinge assembly is bolted or riveted to the sidewalls or their reinforcements. Additionally, the permanent fixture of the piano hinge assembly to the sidewalls of the box truck prevents any adjustments to the shelves after installation.
Accordingly, the present invention proceeds upon the desirability of providing a structurally independent load bearing support system for use in the box trucks and other cargo vehicles which does not transfer the weight of the support system and the cargo to the sidewalls of the box truck. The structurally independent load bearing support system of the present invention provides one or more levels of accessories, such as shelves, hooks, racks, platforms, bins, drawers, cots, hangars, benches and the like within and/or outside the cargo area of the vehicle. Preferably, accessories can be easily and reliably rotated to their stored and utility positions. Also, the accessories are removably attachable so that they can be easily and efficiently reconfigured to meet a particular cargo or storage need. For example, one or more shelves can be moved up or down to accommodate varying sized packages.